Parkinson’s may originate in the gut: New study reveals warning signs

Trust your gut, as they say.

Parkinson’s Disease, the cause of which has long remained a mystery, could originate in the gastrointestinal system.

New research, published Thursday in the journal Gut, suggests that certain gastrointestinal conditions — such as irritable bowel syndrome, difficulty swallowing and constipation — could be early warning signs of Parkinson’s.

The disease, which actor Michael J. Fox has publicly struggled with, is a brain disorder that most commonly affects mobility, causing shaking and stiffness as well as hindering balance and coordination in people usually over the age of 60, according to the National Institute on Aging.

While experts believe the condition is caused by both genetic and environmental factors, the new research is the “first multicentre study” to find a relationship between GI tract ailments and a heightened risk of Parkinson’s.

The study compared 24,624 Parkinson’s patients to people who had other neurological diseases and those who had none. Then, they divided the adult patients by gut condition, and those participants were matched with a patient who did not have a gastrointestinal ailment.

The team of researchers, who are from University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium and Mayo Clinic Arizona, tracked participants for five years to observe who developed Parkinson’s or another neurological condition and who did not.

The report revealed that those with delayed stomach emptying, difficulty swallowing and constipation doubled their risk of developing Parkinson’s in five years’ time, nothing that IBS without diarrhea presented a 17% increased risk.

Inflammatory bowel disease, however, did not present a higher risk.

Interestingly, appendix removal appeared to decrease Parkinson’s risk, although researchers were unsure of the exact mechanisms at play.

“These findings warrant alertness for [gastrointestinal] syndromes in patients at higher risk for Parkinson’s disease and highlight the need for further investigation of [gastrointestinal] precedents in Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease,” the study authors concluded.

Past research has suggested a link between Parkinson’s Disease and childhood nightmares or even climate change.

But medical breakthroughs have suggested hope on the horizon for early diagnosis and treatment.

This week, researchers from London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital revealed that scans using artificial intelligence could improve Parkinson’s detection in the eye, marking the first time indicators of the disease could be found years prior to diagnosis.

While the connection between eye health and Parkinson’s has yet to be explored in-depth, the research revealed the opportunity for further investigation.

“This work demonstrates the potential for eye data, harnessed by the technology to pick up signs and changes too subtle for humans to see. We can now detect very early signs of Parkinson’s, opening up new possibilities for treatment,” Alastair Denniston, an ophthalmologist at Moorfields, said in a statement.